Xojo Inc. announced to ship Xojo 2017r3 in 64-bit soon, as you can read on the blog article:
The 64-bit Xojo IDE. If you in the beta program*, you may be able to take a look soon on this. The 64-bit version of the IDE can use much more memory and load bigger projects.
A check here with a few huge projects shows the loading time for one of them is down from about 2:40 to 1:30 minutes. This compares a really big project with 32bit vs. 64bit Xojo IDE. Probably due to faster code generated by the LLVM compiler for 64-bit and faster string handling functions.
For the plugins, I expect we have updated plugins ready before 2017r3 ships later this year, so everything should work smooth. I can’t predict if older plugins will work, but I expect to modify my plugins if needed.
The blog post doesn’t say it, but Xojo may drop 32-bit IDE and only allow you to compile 32-bit apps on a 64-bit computer. I have no idea how many Xojo developers still need 32-bit IDE, e.g. running on a Windows 10 in 32-bit. Using the remote debuggers you can still debug on 32-bit, but may no longer run the IDE on it. And you can of course debug a 32-bit app on a 64-bit computer, but no longer debug on a 32-bit computer without remote debugging.
* you can get on the beta program by signing up in your account settings when you have a Pro license.
To attend the FileMaker conference in Spain, I travelled to Madrid.
If anyone else arrives early, drop me a line and we can enjoy dinner together or chat at the hotel bar.
Whenever you open a SQLite database in your application, please remember to first send this command via SQL Execute:
PRAGMA cache_size = 20000
this will increase the cache. Default is 2000 pages and with a page size of 1024 bytes that's only 2 MB of cache. You can easily set it to 20000 pages on modern computers for 20 MB. This way you increase SQLite performance a lot!
Now the best cache for SQLite is one where the whole database fits in. On the other side if you set cache bigger, it will only grow until the whole database is in memory. So for one of our projects here, we now use 2 GB cache limit for SQLite:
#if Target64Bit then
db.SQLExecute "PRAGMA cache_size = 2000000" // 2 GB
#else
db.SQLExecute "PRAGMA cache_size = 20000" // 20 MB
#endif
If the database is 10 MB, of course the cache will only be 10 MB. But if the database is 50 MB for a table and this table is queried, it helps a lot of the whole table fits into the cache. And with 64-bit memory is available and you do not risk running out of it soon, so using it for the database cache is a good idea.
This works for
SQLiteDatabase,
iOSSQLiteDatabase,
SQLDatabaseMBS and
SQLConnectionMBS in Xojo as well as with our
MBS Filemaker Plugin when used with SQLite.
New in this prerelease of the 7.5 MBS FileMaker Plugin:
- Added App.GetProcessPath and App.GetProcessName for Linux.
- Fixed bug with SQLite Prepare command with extra spaces in SQL commands.
- Added RSA.DecryptPrivateKey and RSA.EncryptPrivateKey functions.
- Improved RSA.GeneratePrivateKey to allow you to specify algorithm and encrypt keys.
- Added "Callbacks with Custom Webviewer" example to show how to use JavaScript callback with our custom webviewers.
- Added MouseCursor.HideUntilMouseMoves function.
- Fixed problem in List.DeCombine not returning list with first empty element missing.
- Fixed TinyMCE example for FileMaker 16.
- Fixed preferences dialog to allow entering of values.
- Changed copy button in script workspace to replace tab with spaces, so tabs are only used to intent.
- Fixed a bug with formula coloring to work, if formula starts with "(".
- Added selector CopyRight for Files.FileInfo to query copyright string on Mac.
- Improved custom webviews to work with download delegate and policy delegate functions.
- Changed window finding by window title to fall back to prefix matching if the exact window title is not found.
- Enabled P12 files for certificates in CURL for Windows.
- Updated CURL library to version 7.56.0.
- Changed WebView.InstallCallback to work in FMP 16 with WebView.Create.
- Fixed problem for iOS where registration for remote notification would not always happen.
- Put back in iOS plugin, which was missing for 7.4.
- Added FileName parameter to FM.ScriptNameForScriptID, FM.ScriptIDForScriptName and FM.ScriptNames.
Download at
monkeybreadsoftware.de/filemaker/files/Prerelease/ or ask for being added to the dropbox shared folder.
PS: I uploaded a newer disk image including iOS Plugin which was missing. Sorry.
New in this prerelease of the 17.5 plugins:
- Fixed leaked file handle in MimeEmailMBS constructor.
- Improved SpotLightFileInfoMBS to support newer interface and query with newer Spotlight plugins. Can now return HTML preview for emails.
- Fixed bug with SQLite Prepare command with extra spaces in SQL commands.
- Improved OpenSSLMBS.GeneratePrivateKey to allow you to specify algorithm and encrypt keys.
- Fixed console applications to no longer initialize NSApplication.
- Enabled P12 files for certificates in CURL for Windows.
- Updated CURL library to version 7.56.0.
- Added overlay methods to CustomPDFViewMBS class and PDFViewControlMBS control.
- Added MT methods to XLBookMBS class to load/save thread friendly.
- Changed NSViewMBS constructors to raise exception if called on Windows.
Download:
monkeybreadsoftware.de/xojo/download/plugin/Prerelease/.
Or ask us to be added to our shared Dropbox folder.
Wieder mal bin ich in der Schweiz, u.a. zum
FileMaker Experience Event am 21. November in Meilen.
Wer Interesse hat an einem Termin mit mir für Softwareentwicklung, Schulungen, Entwicklungshilfe, Plugin Empfehlungen, assistierte Fehlersuche, Code-Review und IT-Beratung, der darf sich gerne melden für eine baldige Terminfindung.
Für Xojo Entwickler organisiere ich gerne noch einen Stammtisch:
Doodle Umfrage
Alle FileMaker Entwickler sind natürlich gerne eingeladen mit nach
Meilen zu kommen, wo ich auch gerne die ein oder andere MBS Plugin Funktion zeige. Mal sehen, was es in einem Monat alles neues gibt!
As usual with every conference we offer licenses at a discount to conference attendees: 20% on everything.
You can find the coupon code on our flyers at the booth. The coupon code is valid till end of October and can be used with the Share-It web store.
For PayPal or orders using invoices, we will create individual invoices on request.
If you don't have a flyer and you attend one of the current conferences, you can always email us a picture of the badge as proof to get the coupon.
Please note that the discount is to help attendees to get a bigger return of investment out of the conference trip.
Falls Sie eine Frage haben zum MBS FileMaker Plugin haben oder sich einmal darüber informieren möchten, so kommen Sie bitte am Stand vorbei:
Man sieht sich!
FileMaker Inc. just released a new version of their products:
See details for
FileMaker Server 16.0.3,
FileMaker Go 16.0.3 and
FileMaker Pro 16.0.3.
Fixes include the problems with lost scripts when committing a record after a reconnect. And of course a couple more fixes.
The installation of the update is highly recommended to all users of FileMaker 16 to avoid the problem mentioned above!
As you may know Xojo 2016r4 to 2017r2 made a move to use DirectDraw for printing. Xojo 2016r3 and older use
DEVMODE structure to describe the printer setup in the ANSI version. Xojo 2016r4 and newer use the unicode version. You run into problems if you use an older
SetupString with newer Xojo versions. Sadly Xojo missed to increment the version number in their string to ignore older setup strings automatically!
While the exact format of SetupString is not published, you can see it’s text with an embedded binary part. One of the values listed is DevModeStructureSizePS which shows the size of the binary data. Values are for example 1292 for older format and 1356 for newer format of the same printer. Please note the format can be printer specific and change depending on which fields are checked in the printer dialog!
In the byte stream you see first 32 characters in both versions, either unicode (64 bytes!) or ANSI text. Followed is the spec version &h0401 for Windows 2000 and newer. Next value is driver version. The following field is the size of the structure, not including any private, driver-specified data. This value can be &h00DC for size of DEVMODEW structure for Xojo 2017r2 and &h009C for size of DEVMODEA structure for Xojo 2016r3. The next number is the driver’s data size in bytes, e.g. &h0470 for my printer in both cases. If you sum it up, you get &h054C and &h50C, which are exactly the sizes above.
To detect the format of a setup string, you can do the following: You find the string DevModeStructurePS= in the setup string. If you don’t have it, this is an incomplete setup string, e.g. from a new
PrinterSetup object and you can simply use it. But if you find it, you look in the binary data, if you find the bytes &h01 and &h04 exactly 32 or 64 bytes after the start of the binary data. Skipping two bytes the next two bytes should be &hDC &h00 for Xojo 2017r2 and &h9C &h00 for Xojo 2016r3.
Implementing the proper function to test a setup string is left as homework to the reader.
PS: If
SetupString odes not start with "DoNotAlterThis=SetupString.2" or you are not on TargetWindows, you should not touch it as that may be a new future format.
PPS: The
WindowsDeviceModeMBS class in MBS Win Plugin can help to convert from ANSI to Unicode and back if needed.
Arrived in Salzburg for German
FileMaker Konferenz:
See you all there!
With last release we reorganized the Xojo plugins a little bit.
First, we renamed a few plugins
| Plugin Part | | Renamed to |
|---|
| Cocoa | ➜ | MacCocoa |
| CocoaBase | ➜ | MacBase |
| CocoaControls | ➜ | MacControls |
| CocoaExtras | ➜ | MacExtras |
| MacOSXCF | ➜ | MacCF |
| MacOSXCG | ➜ | MacCG |
| Lion | ➜ | MacCloud |
| Mac | ➜ | MacClassic |
This makes it more clear that all those plugins are for Mac.
Second, we removed QuickTime and QTKit plugin parts, as Apple deprecated them years ago and Xojo dropped support for QuickTime long ago.
Third, we merged some plugin into others:
| Plugin Part | | Moved to |
|---|
| CanonEOSDigital | ➜ | Cameras |
| NikonCamera | ➜ | Cameras |
| CUPS | ➜ | Tools |
| DirectShow | ➜ | Win |
| GIF | ➜ | Images |
| JPEG | ➜ | Images |
| LargeImage | ➜ | Images |
| LCMS | ➜ | Images |
| TIFF | ➜ | Images |
| PNG | ➜ | Images |
| ImageMagick | ➜ | GraphicsMagick |
| Leopard | ➜ | MacFrameworks |
| MarkDown | ➜ | Tools |
| MountainLion | ➜ | MacFrameworks |
| OCR | ➜ | Images |
| PHP | ➜ | Tools |
| RegEx | ➜ | Tools |
| SnowLeopard | ➜ | MacFrameworks |
| TAPI | ➜ | Win |
| Tidy | ➜ | Tools |
| TWAIN | ➜ | Picture |
| WinDragDrop | ➜ | Win |
| WinICM | ➜ | Win |
This reduced the number of plugins a lot.
We moved few parts to new plugins, e.g. CoreAnimation and ImageKit classes. This way we reduced the dependencies between plugins.
In general the reorganization was well received and no class was missing even as we removed 5% of the plugin parts.
We just got announcement for the
FileMaker Conference .fmp[x]Berlin 2018.
This conference is organized by
Egbert Friedrich and takes place from 7th to 9th June 2018 in Berlin, Germany.
As the conference is in english, this is your chance to meet people from around the world at a conference in Europe. And for a lot of people it's easier to get to Berlin than to cross the atlantic and deal with US immigration officers.
Who
dotfmp is an effort of various leading European FileMaker Developers. It is meant to bring all kinds of higher level developers together to share knowledge, educate and challenge each other.
When
dotfmp starts at the 6th June 2018 in the later afternoon with a relaxed "Beer and Sausages" in one of the most famous Berlin Beergarden.The session days itself last from 7th until 9th June with various socialising events in the evenings. Additionally we offer support on 10th June to see more from Berlin and its surroundings.
What
dotfmp is a 3 Day-Unconference, Meetup, Hangout or Barcamp. It is an informal and self-organized effort to meet on a personal base.
Where
dotfmp takes place in one of the most famous spots in Berlin. The GLS Campus is located in a vibrant area with a very short walking distance to all the famous restaurants.
Why
We feel there are far too few possibilities to talk to, learn from, and hangout with fellow developers in a relaxed and informal environment. And we'd like to share work and get feedback from people chewing on similar challenges.
If you like to join the conference and present something, please
register soon.
The Xojo forum has been growing over the last years.
Since June 2013, the new forum is growing with content and it got huge.
The old Real Studio forum had 7542 members and 45738 topics and needed twelve years for that.
But the new Xojo forum got over double the members in a fraction of the time.
With now 18000 members and over 40000 conversations, it got the much more posts: 341349 postings vs. 265843. And only 9% are from Michel Bujardet, the current top poster.
Congratulations to the community for such a vital forum!
Here is a nice example database to show how to make clicks on a PDF:
So first we render PDF to an image using
DynaPDF functions. Than user can click on image inside a container to set a point. We draw the point with our
GraphicsMagick functions in MBS Plugin and build a list of records for the points.
Later those points could be used to draw them on a new PDF with existing PDF in background.
Maybe this is useful for you? I'll include it with next plugins (or email me for a copy)
New in this prerelease of the 17.5 plugins:
- Added ReplaceICCProfileEx, ReplaceImage and ReplaceImageEx to DynaPDFMBS class.
- Updated DynaPDF to version version 4.0.13.36.
- Updated XL Plugin for ARM 32-bit to use LibXl 3.8.1, too.
- Fixed TagLibFileRefMBS to work on Windows.
- Updated LCMS library to version 2.9rc1.
Download:
monkeybreadsoftware.de/xojo/download/plugin/Prerelease/.
Or ask us to be added to our shared Dropbox folder.
New in this prerelease of the 7.5 MBS FileMaker Plugin:
- Added DynaPDF.ReplaceImage function.
- Fixed bug with DynaPDF.GetImage function complaining about non decompressed image.
- Added DynaPDF.GetReplaceICCProfileData and DynaPDF.SetReplaceICCProfileData.
- Changed trace file to be UTF-8 with BOM and LF as end of line on Mac and Linux.
- Changed trace file to be UTF-16 with BOM and CRLF as end of line on Windows.
- Updated DynaPDF to version version 4.0.13.36.
- Added QuickList.DeCombine function.
- Added fix to avoid crashes with FileMaker 12 on macOS Sierra related to removing observers.
- Added List.SubList and QuickList.SubList functions.
- Changed error notifications to only show maximum 5 of them and remove them automatically after 5 minutes.
- Changed variable error notifications to be removed automatically when you typed correct name.
- Added iOS support for JavaScript functions.
- The column for script IDs is now a bit narrower.
- Updated LCMS library to version 2.9rc1.
Download at
monkeybreadsoftware.de/filemaker/files/Prerelease/ or ask for being added to the dropbox shared folder.
PS: I uploaded a newer disk image including iOS Plugin which was missing. Sorry.
It’s Thanksgiving this weekend in Germany. Time to say thank you to all the good things that happen in live. Thanks for the wife and three healthy kids, thanks for having a great job and thanks to you my customers, who keep this company running.
Thanks for my father's colleagues who recommend him to buy a Mac 20 years ago. Thanks to Geoff for buying CrossBasic, making it REALbasic and thanks for Macwelt magazine to pointing me to it. Thanks for the first customers who hired me in 1999 to code for them, so I started a company in April 2000. Thanks to customers pushing me to learn C++ and writing plugins for Xojo and FileMaker. And thanks to everyone who bought a license. Over the years we can keep doing this, because people support us with their purchases. Thanks to keep me doing this instead of applying for a regular job somewhere to pay my bills.
And thanks for the travel around the world and the conferences. Organizing a conference is a lot of work, so thanks to all people who organize conferences. And of course thanks to everyone leaving their office to go to a conference. Only attending conferences makes them great and keeps them going!
So lets keep this running and see you at conferences in Salzburg, Madrid, London, Montreal, Denver, Munich and wherever another one will be!
For DynaPDF we add new method to replace an image in a PDF:
With existing functions, you can query image information for all the images and export them to files. With the next plugin, you can use a new function in DynaPDF to replace each image with a new image. The display size and orientation is not changed, so your new image should match the size and aspect ratio.
With next plugin version, you can use the new function
DynaPDF.ReplaceImage in FileMaker or
DynaPDFMBS.ReplaceImage in Xojo. You can pass new picture as file on disk or with data in memory. The image can use it's own color space or be converted to one of the color spaces defined in the PDF or standard device colorspaces.
If you like to try, send me an email for an early preview copy.
Today we run into a problem with FileMaker 12.
On every (!) launch here, we get a crash report dialog with a lot of details including this message:
*** Terminating app due to uncaught exception 'NSRangeException', reason: 'Cannot remove an observer for the key path "areInspectorsVisible" from because it is not registered as an observer.'
This could be a bug in FileMaker or one of the Apple frameworks. Probably due to running FileMaker 12 on macOS 10.12 Sierra. The removeObserver method is called where it shouldn't be.
Now I can use my MBS Plugin to fix this with a work around: The new plugin watches for calls to removeObserver method and puts the call in an try/catch block. If the exception occurs, we can log it and continue. FileMaker doesn't see the exception and does not terminate. If no exception happens, the call just continues normally and nobody will notice.
If you run into the same problem, let me know and I can maybe help you with the same issue with an updated MBS Plugin.
